In the Old World, temperatures are hitting record highs. In China, last week, the thermometer reached 52.2ºC and in the USA, 53.3ºC. The UN warns: it’s only going to get worse.
The past week has been terrifying for those in regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The intense and frightening heat surprised everyone in regions of the United States, Europe, or Asia. Power plants are trying to meet the demand for air conditioning in the US and China, the world’s leading emitters of greenhouse gases. In Furnace Creek, in California’s Death Valley, thermometers registered 53.3ºC. And in Xinjiang, 52.2ºC.
Wildfires are raging across southern Europe and Canada, with more than a month of the peak fire season underway. Explosive storms, torrential monsoons, and extreme heat are sowing destruction and threatening lives across three continents.
On Tuesday, the 18th, the UN warned that the world must prepare for even more intense heat waves. “These events will continue to grow in intensity and the world needs to prepare for more intense heat waves,” declared John Nairn, an expert on extreme heat at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
In the long term, scientists say, climate change is making heat waves hotter, more frequent, and longer; making wildfires larger and more intense; affecting air quality, rainfall, and droughts—impacting every corner of the Earth, driven by humans burning fossil fuels.
“The hard part is not over,” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. In his country, forest fires have burned dozens of homes and thousands of acres of forest in the past week, and temperatures are expected to reach 45ºC on Sunday in central Thessaly.
Temperatures in parts of Sicily exceeded 46°C on Wednesday amid a fierce heatwave sweeping across southern Europe. Peaks were recorded in the area between Mazara del Vallo, in the province of Trapani, and Sciacca, in the province of Agrigento; 48.8°C recorded in Floridia, Sicily, in 2021 is officially considered the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe. In Rome, 41.8°C was reached on Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 40.7°C set in June 2022, and Sardinia experienced highs of 45°C. The Italian Ministry of Health placed 23 cities, including Rome, Florence, Bologna, Bari, Catania, Cagliari, Palermo and Turin, on “red alert”.
In India, at least 10 people were killed in the western Indian state of Maharashtra and 100 were reported missing when a landslide struck the mountainous village of Irshalwadi, 35 miles from Mumbai, after up to 400 mm of rain fell in 24 hours. Northern India has received 41% more rain than normal during a monsoon season, and more than 100 people have died in flash floods and landslides since June 1st.
